Refrigerators and other appliances have evolved from simple devices that perform the basic functions intended to sophisticated appliances having features and functions for convenience as well as utility. Lighted interiors are commonly provided for user convenience. For example, both freezer and refrigerator compartments of refrigerator appliances have been known to include lights that are actuated upon opening of the door to the compartment.
Refrigerators are known to include one or more sliding drawers for separately holding meat, produce or other items. It is known to provide controls for the temperature and/or humidity of a drawer interior separately from the control of the refrigerator compartment itself. The controls can be made readily accessible in the drawer front between inner and outer panels of the drawer front. The drawers are deep and, if full, the interior of the drawer can appear quite dark, even when the drawer is opened in a lighted refrigerator interior. The light for the main area of the refrigerator compartment may not cast light into the drawer when the drawer is pulled open. Reading package labels and identifying small items in the drawer can be difficult. Accordingly, there are advantages in providing lights directly within the interior space of a refrigerator drawer.
It also is desirable to maximize the useable space for food storage within a refrigerator. Preferably, the amount of useful food-storage space is maximized within the overall volume of the refrigerator. Drawers alone reduce the storage space available within a refrigerator since space is required for suspending structures, slide systems and the like necessary for operating the drawer. To maximize the food storage space within the drawer, it is known to provide the drawer made of single panels on the front, back, sides and bottom. The drawer front also is known to be provided as a two panel structure, with a small space between inner and outer panels sufficient for holding a louver and controls for adjusting circulation through the drawer.
It is desirable to provide a light for the interior of refrigerator drawers to light the drawer interior directly, rather than indirectly as from a more generally located light in the refrigerator compartment. However, since drawer space is often small, it is undesirable to have a light structure that extends only minimally into the drawer.
What is needed is a light provided within a refrigerator drawer, which extends only minimally into the drawer interior, thereby not reducing the storage space significantly.